Some Things Never Change
by Dancing Through Life
Summary: Vala is killed and wakes up in the after life only see some people she didn't expect to see. AU.
1. Lesson For Today: Never Lie to A Village

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I especially own nothing because to get this story going, I took the first fewspokenlinesof this story straight from the episode "The Powers That Be"

A/N: To those of you who read and followed the Janet's Mission series, I have an apology to make. I told y'all I was starting a new series, but as I was writing this, I decided that it would work better as one story with multiple chapters. In many ways, this might make things easier for those who like it. I hope you do. Enjoy! Also, this is the first story I've ever written that has aslightly romantic tone to it, and I'm not sure how it'll come out in the long run. Please be patient, I'm doing my best. This is an AU during and after The Powers That Be

"We could try shooting them," Vala suggested. "You said the priors are human, right? A few well aimed shots might at least get their attention." Daniel shrugged. He was trying to figure out how to spring Vala from the prison she was being held if the results from her maldarren came back against her, but the nagging fear of the priors was tugging at him. At the moment, that's all Vala seemed to want to talk about as well. She seemed to think everything was going to be alright and that an escape plan was not necessary. Mitchell and Teal'c were playing cards near the entrance, leaving Daniel to do the thinking.

"Well…you study enough religions you find that killing the missionaries doesn't combat the overall philosophy." Daniel answered.

"The problem is that what the priors are offering sounds quite good," Vala mused. "Until you get to the whole prostrating and burning people alive bits…

"There's that…and I don't think any of us have read the real fine print yet." What was he talking about now? Vala was confused.

"Meaning?"

"Well, I personally know without a doubt, the priors are bad." Oh, brilliant one, Daniel. Really. He'd be elected President sooner or later for comments like that.

"So creepy…"

"And believe or die is an archaic moral standing. No, the Ori are wrong for doing what they're doing but the part I haven't figured out yet, the part that's really bothering me is…why they're doing it? I mean what do they care if people worship them or not?

Vala had to admit that he had a point. He had asked the question that she had been wondering about herself. She was about to add to the conversation when Azdak arrived. Daniel cursed silently to himself. He had not yet thought of an escape plan that might do them any good.

"We have decided that you are as evil as the parasite that used to live within you," Azdak said. "You will die at dawn tomorrow."

"Oh, come now," Vala said. "It was only a few massages, what's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that because of you and your parasite, millions of people have been killed. We are poverty stricken, hungry, disease ridden."

"Well, how about this. I take my little devices and you take me to heal those who are sick."

"Why didn't you offer this before your own life was in danger?" Azdak asked quietly.

"Because you wouldn't let me have them before my life was in danger."

We might have. But unfortunately, the ruling stands." And with that, Azdak walked off. Vala slumped in her cell.

"So are you just going to sit here and watch me die then?" She muttered.

"Of course not." Daniel answered. "I say we bust you out of here in two hours when everyone's sleeping and make a run for the escape passage. Then we send another SG Team to deal with the priors.

"Okay, good. Let's do that then." Daniel stole a look at Mitchell. It all depended on whether he was on board with this.

"Works for me." Mitchell shrugged as he threw down an ace to win his hand of gin rummy.

At the allotted time, Mitchell and Vala used Teal'c staff weapon as a crowbar to separate the bars of the cell far enough to fit through. Gingerly, she climbed out of what was formerly her prison. She winced. It wasn't quite wide enough for comfort.

"Do I at least get to go back for my treasure?" She asked.

"No." Mitchell told her. "Time is ticking and it's not a man you can seduce and manipulate. For all we know, someone's keeping watch and knows at this moment that you're out."

The four of them took off at a run.

"Paranoid idiot." Vala muttered under her breath. These people had never been that good with security.

But Mitchell had been right. They were soon being pursued by villagers with staff weapons that Vala herself had hidden to protect herself with.

Feet from the pyramid, Vala was shot in the back. She fell to her face.

Vala woke with a start. She was in a warm, comfortable bed. A bed that Quetesh would've been jealous of.

She couldn't remember anything. The last memory that was floating through her mind was convincing Mitchell to go back to P8X-412. She kept her eyes closed, trying to remember exactly what had happened.

Suddenly, she realized that there was someone dabbing water on her forehead. She grabbed the intruders arm.

"Don't be afraid," A gentle voice said. "I'm here to get you on your feet."

"Where am I?" She asked, keeping her eyes closed. She didn't know what she was going to see.

"You're safe." The voice said. "Open your eyes, you should be able to."

"Not yet. Who are you?"

"My name is Anna." Anna. The name seemed tame enough. Vala cautiously opened her eyes to see a blond girl sitting in front of her. She couldn't have been more than twenty five. Vala sat up.

"Do you have any idea what happened to me?"

"You were running away from those who you once ruled over. One of them shot you in the back with a staff weapon." All at once, it came back to Vala.

"Then how did I get here?"

"You died."

"I what?"

"The staff blast killed you."

"Then how are we having this conversation?" Anna sighed.

"Because I'm dead too. I died two earth years ago."

Vala's head was spinning.

"So if I'm dead, how come I needed to recover after the staff blast?"

"You needed to be restored to what living you would've called "perfect health." Otherwise, you'd always be wary of yourself." None of this really made any sense at all to Vala, but she decided to go along with it.

"So how did you die?"

"I was a rapidly grown clone, but my DNA was mixed so I was a human clone and a gou'ald clone at the same time."

"What?"

"Exactly. Anyway, my structure was so delicate that I was the first successful attempt of many. The man who grew me was cruel, he tried to control the Gou'ald. When I finally learned that I was only an object to him, SG-1 was trying to track him. I killed him and then my systems failed."

"Wait, you were a machine?"

"No, I just didn't know how else to phrase that." Vala couldn't help but laugh.

"You'll be able to walk shortly. You can explore and check out the view then."

"View? All the stories of that dark dreary place or that white fluffy place and there's a view?"

"Stories are stories. No one truly knows what this place looks like until they're dead."

"True."

Anna stood up and helped Vala to her feet and almost carried her to the door of the room. For someone who looked so frail, she was remarkably strong.

"This is one of our reception rooms. It's as close to those fluffy cloud heaven stories that you've heard on Earth. They have told you those, right?"

"Yeah. Mitchell was getting annoyed with me not understand his threats."

They reached the door to the hallway. Outside, the walls were a dull stone. No etching, nothing.

"This is what the rest of our world looks like. Closer to the drear stories. I'd take you all the way out, but as soon as you leave this room, you will no longer be able to make contact with anyone. You'll just slip right through."

Anna turned around and placed Vala back on the bed.

"You still haven't told me about the view you were talking about."

"There are ways to see those you left behind. You may not be able to see those you have lost when you are living – but when you are gone you can see those who are living."

This peaked Vala's never ending curiosity.

"I can see anybody? On any world?"

"Yes," Anna answered. "Anybody, anywhere."


	2. The After Life

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Vala was on her feet before and roaming the dank hallways before long. To anyone who really knew her, this was no surprise. She had never been able to sit still long and even though Anna would've liked to have kept her in bed longer, Vala was driving her nuts and was willing to let her out.

Anna was not kidding when she had said that the after life was slightly dreary. The walls Vala had seen outside Anna's room were exactly like the walls everywhere else and there were only a few scattered windows here and there that looked over nothing. There seemed to be no color on any of the architecture and it seemed as though whoever had built it had decided that once you were dead, you were dead and trivial pleasures such as aesthetics didn't matter anymore.

Soon, Vala found what she was looking for. There was a huge row of screens in these stone cubicles. As she looked down the row, she could see that there were more cubicles being constructed, but there was no one building it. The after life was constantly taking in more residents, it made sense that more and more people would be wanting to see what was happening in their old world.

After a bit of exploring (and spying on other viewers), Vala found an empty cubicle. There was no obvious way to turn the screen on. She pawed at it, looking for a button. But after a thorough finger sweep, no button was obvious. Vala stood back and looked at it, trying to figure it out. She searched the walls with her eyes, looking for a switch. This search as well proved fruitless. She stomped her foot in frustration.

"You useless piece of junk! I thought the point of dying was to go to eternal satisfaction! Instead, I'm stuck here yelling at you! Is it really too much to ask to see where SG-1 is and what they're doing?"

The screen flickered on.

"Well, that changes things a bit." She made herself as comfortable as she could on the hard stone floor and watched the screen, but jumped up again almost instantly.

Nerous was stepping through the gate on Earth. Why in Quetesh's name were they letting him through? Surely Teal'c would've known how disgustingly gluttonous he was. At least there was a security team around him. But wait…was that Daniel, Mitchell, and Teal'c at the foot of the ramp? They were greeting the sucker?

Vala was very, very confused.

Nerous walked right up to Teal'c.

"To look upon the face of the one!" He gushed.

Oh please, Vala thought to herself.

Mitchell, like usual, seemed confused.

"The one what?" Nerous seemed shocked that Mitchell didn't understand exactly what he meant.

"The one who inspired the great uprising, of course! Oh, the time of false Gods is at an end and no small part because of this man!"

Vala thought she was going to throw up as Nerous turned to Daniel.

"Dr Daniel Jackson! It is rumored among the Goa'uld, that you alone defeated Anubis. Is that true?" Nerous reminded Vala of a small child. Ask ask ask and never wait to hear the answer. She liked how Daniel was put on the spot. But then she decided that she didn't like it – that was supposed to be her job. Daniel was going slightly red as he searched for words.

"Where'd you hear that?" He finally managed.

"Oh, I hear everything." Now that was disconcerting. Even more disconcerting was the gleam in his eye. If Vala had been on Earth, she would be wary of it. It was the same look she gave people when she was about to steal something. Nerous began making his way towards Mitchell. Daniel should've recognized it. It was the same look she gave him when she strapped the bracelet on him.

Oh, Gods. This would be interesting.

Mitchell stuck out his hand to give the Gou'ald a proper Earth handshake.

"Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell, leader of SG-1." Nerous didn't take Mitchell's hand and it just sat there in the air, making Mitchell look slightly foolish.

But that was nothing new to Vala.

"But…you're…you're not…"

"No." Mitchell looked slightly put off that O'Neill was the one who Nerous wanted to see.

Vala had never met O'Neill, but from what she had picked up and been told about him from Daniel, she was sure that they would've gotten along swell.

"Will he be here?" Nerous asked, completely ignoring Mitchell at this point. Vala couldn't help but giggle at Nerous's complete lack of attention and Mitchell's annoyed look.

"Nope" Mitchell replied, a bit vindictive.

Nerous was clearly disappointed, but he moved on to General Landry. Vala sighed.

"Screen off," She muttered. She had only really wanted to see Daniel, but the fun was gone. There was no way to push his buttons. She was stuck in this rock quarry until the end of eternity.

"Screen on, my Daniel" a voice said. Vala snapped up from her slump on the floor. A dark haired woman was walking into her cubicle, and the SGC had once again popped up.

The woman startled when she saw Vala.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize anyone was in here. Screen off." She turned to leave.

"No, wait." Vala stood up. "How do – er, did you know Daniel Jackson?"

"You are the woman who stole his ship?"

"Yes – you watch him often then?"

"Everyday. I was his wife." Vala was so stunned she almost fell over.

"He was married?"

"Yes. And I loved him"

At that precise moment, a small red haired woman came in, holding a bowl of popcorn.

"Shar'ae, I have the pop – " she stopped when she saw Vala. "Oh. It's you."

"Let me guess – you were somehow involved with the lug who left me for dead."

"In a manner of speaking. And face it – you were dead."

Vala couldn't say anything. This small woman had a point.

"Are you done in here or should we go elsewhere?"

"Go elsewhere. I'm not finished."

"Fine then. Come on, Shar'ae." And with that, they left.

For once in her life, Vala had not been lying. She wanted to check on someone else.

It had been years since Vala had led a normal life. She had started smuggling when she was seventeen, leaving home on the run when she was eighteen. Five years after that, Quetesh had taken her as a host. It was only four years until the Tok'ra released her, but four years had been enough for Quetesh. Vala was indirectly responsible for millions of deaths. And the sad thing was, Vala didn't remember any of it. Quetesh had had intense control over her, wiping the memories from her mind. But there was someone Vala wanted to see, someone she hadn't seen in twenty years.

Vala turned from the cubicle entrance and back toward the screen.

"Screen on, Olendon, Gemma – "

"No need, Vala. I'm already here."

For the second time in five minutes, Vala froze. After taking a deep breath, Vala turned to face Gemma Mal Doran.


	3. Gemma

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"Gemma?"

"Yes, it's me."

"How? When?"

"Fourteen years ago." Gee, that helped a lot.

"How, though?"

"Vala. Do you really want to know?"

"Gel, do you remember anything about me?" Vala noticed the slight shudder at the old familiar nickname.

"I remember you're greedy, conceited, selfish, and disgustingly vain."

"Wow, you should hook up with Mitchell, you two could start the constipated prude society. But clearly you've forgotten that if I catch wind of something, I don't stop until I know the whole juicy truth."

"Except up her you can't beat me up."

"I can threaten."

"You really don't want to know, Vam."

"Oh yes I do, Gel."

"Your Gou'ald killed us. Mother and Father as well."

Vala felt the twinge of guilt that usually appeared when she learned of some of Quetesh's atrocities.

But this twinge of guilt was pushed back most of the time. If anything, it had helped fuel Vala's sense of greed.

Gemma had only been fourteen when her older sister was chased off Olendon for stealing five hundred gold pieces from one of the country's government officials, but she might have well been forty. The two Mal Doran sisters couldn't be anything less alike. Where Vala was greedy, Gemma was charitable. Everything Vala stole for Gemma she gave to the poor, until Gemma realized where the gifts came from and refused to accept them. While Vala hit puberty and developed feminine whiles early, Gemma refused to socialize with young men after cocktail hour. She preferred to sew and study in the company of their mother.

Vala just didn't understand her.

But like most sisters, they had their moments. Like their nicknames, Vam and Gel. No one knew of them. It was their thing when they could stand to be alone in each other's company.

"So why are you still talking to me?" Vala asked, genuinely confused.

"Because I know you're not the one who did it. It was Quetesh."

"Do I have any secrets from you people?"

"Not from me. Mother and Father have refused to acknowledge your existence, so you might have a bit over them."

"Of course," Vala scoffed. "What else is new?"

"You've fancied the same guy for more than a week, that's something new."

"You know, I'm starting to hate these screens."

"Only because you were watched first. Knowing you, you'll love them before long."

"Can I watch people who have already died and are here?"

"No."

"Can I watch past events?"

"No."

"Can I see the future?"

"No."

"So you're telling me that I can only watch things that are going on at this exact moment?"

"Yes."

"Well, that's no fun."

Gemma scoffed.

"That's odd, coming from you."

There was an awkward silence.

"So…what happened to everyone after I was chased out of Olendon?"

"Well, let's see…Mother cried for weeks on end and Father erased you from his life completely. That just about sums it up."

"Really helpful, there, Gemma."

"Hey, I'm just telling it like it is. You know me, I cannot tell a lie."

"Don't rub it in."

"If we were a normal family, I'd tell you to go see Mother and Father now. Tell them you still love them. But unfortunately, that's not possible."

"Oh, come one. I can find them, I'll explain everything and it'll all be good again."

"Vala, things haven't been good for twenty years. You can't teach an old dog new tricks – it's the same with them. They want nothing to do with you anymore. You can only find them if they want to see you. Face it, Sis, you messed up."

"Why you little – " Vala growled, leaping at her sister.

But instead of making contact and pushing the shorter, stockier Gemma to the floor, Vala went flying through her, hitting her head on the cold stone floor.

"Nice try, Vala. But that won't work anymore. We can't make any contact with each other."

"What? But Anna patched me up just fine before, why didn't her hand go through my head?"

"Did she explain nothing to you?"

"Of course she did. But look who she was talking to, do you think I was paying attention? Why didn't I make contact with you?"

"Because you weren't fully dead yet."

"What?"

"One is only completely dead when they wake up here. You're just a fragment of your living self now. And there's nothing you can do to physically hurt me."

"Well, that's not fair," Vala pouted. "How am I supposed to spend the rest of eternity with no sex?"

The comment had the desired effect. Gemma opened her mouth and closed it again, at a loss for words.

"I mean, honestly. At least one attractive man must've died somehow. Disease, maybe? Or uprising against the Gou'ald?"

Gemma shook her head.

"You haven't changed a bit. You're still the sinner I knew. The girl who was proud of losing her virginity at age fifteen."

"And you are still the same, stuck up book worm. My, amazing how some things don't change, is it?"

"Who was it again? Soro San Garan?"

"Hey! I do not sink that low. It was Clane Dar Selna."

"Oh, like that's much better, Vala."

"While we're on this topic, Gemma, I left when you were fourteen – who did you end up losing it to?"

"That's none of your business."

"Sure it is. I'm your big sister – the one you're supposed to get all the advice from and share all the details with later. I haven't seen you in twenty years, we have a lot to catch up on."

Finally, things were starting to be the way they had been before Vala started smuggling. Gemma, however, was looking genuinely uncomfortable.

"I was only twenty when I died – "

"Look, I'm sorry about that. But it wasn't me, remember? It was Quetesh."

"I know that. I know that better than you."

In that moment, all the guilt Vala had been trying to suppress over the years came flowing back. Where had she been? Where had she been for this poor girl? Who did Gemma have when she had her first boyfriend? Who did she have when that didn't work out? Gemma had a great deal of wisdom beyond her years, but very little knowledge of what someone her age was expected to do. She needed a big sister.

And Vala had been off smuggling and then a Gou'ald host.

What a pal.

"I'm sorry, Gel. I should've been there. But I wasn't. And now we're stuck for all eternity in this rock. But lucky for you, I'm here now. I'm here permanently." If the two of them had been able to touch, Vala would've given her a hug right then.

"I must admit, the last fourteen years have been kind of lonely."

"Well never fear, I'm here now."

"Praise Quetesh."

"Please don't. She killed you, remember?"

"It's called sarcasm, Vala."

"I know." Vala got down in front of Gemma and made the cutest puppy eyes she could muster. "I just didn't think you were capable of it. But you know something I don't know." She used the sing-song voice that Gemma always hated as a kid.

"You haven't seen me in twenty years and the first thing you want to know is who took my virginity and when. How typical of you."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please? I'll tell you the story of when I cornered two sailors on Atlantinean."

"You threw one into the brig of his own ship and had sex on the bridge with the other one."

"Saw that one too, did you?"

"I'm still not telling."

"I'll tackle you again."

"You can't touch me, remember?"

"Fine. Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"A what?"

"It's a fruit of the Taur'i, the people I was working for when I died. Quite good, actually."

"Well, if you must know, there wasn't anyone."

"What?"

"I wasn't married."

"That didn't stop me from losing mine at fifteen."

"I died a virgin, Vam." Vala stared at her sister.

"You killed me before I even had the chance."

Vala shook her head.

Gemma Mal Doran.

A virgin for all eternity.


	4. The Challenge

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: I'm 5'2. So any other vertically challenged readers out there, don't take some of these comments seriously. Honestly. I'm like the most self conscious person about my height. And I love Janet – the short comments are there in good humor and to make myself feel better about my height.

As time went on, Vala and Gemma got closer and closer. Twenty years was a long time to makeup for. They reminisced, laughed, noshed, and were merry. For weeks, they never left each others sides.

Vala was impressed to find that even though Gemma had died a virgin, she did have a boyfriend before she was killed. Vala was content with that that. There was no way she would've followed in Vala's footsteps completely, but just dating was a big step for Gemma. Vala couldn't help but feel a twinge of pride for her baby sister.

There were those, however, that no matter how hard Vala tried, who would not pay Vala any heed what so ever.

Shar'ae was nice enough, but Vala could still feel a hint of resentment. But who wouldn't? Vala had tried to seduce her husband numerous times, and when that didn't work she had resorted to trickery to be near him.

The bracelets had been a nice touch, she had to give herself that much.

Shar'ae had good reason to be bitter towards Vala, even though Gemma insisted she was too sweet to be bitter. Vala scoffed at the culinary reference. Gemma had always enjoyed her food.

However, Shar'ae was not the one who Vala received the most animosity from.

While Shar'ae was making an effort to be nice to Vala, Janet Frasier, Shar'ae's short, red headed friend, was making an effort to be nasty.

After some snooping around, Vala discovered that Janet had never really had anything for Daniel but a huge school girl crush. She was Doctor Lam's predecessor and from what Vala could tell of Janet, when it had been her infirmary nothing was out of order.

Vala now fully understood what Daniel meant when he had told her that Jack O'Neill had tried to avoid her at all costs.

How come the short ones were always the most vicious?

Janet wanted to get to Vala everyway she could. She believed that Vala had manipulated and tortured Daniel, especially onboard Prometheus that first time.

It didn't take long for Vala to realize why people gave her odd looks all the time.

For once in her life, Vala was the one gossiped about, not the one who made up the rumors.

Had everyone watched that? Or did the gossip just spread?

The thing was, though, if Vala's parents could prevent her from seeing or finding them, why wasn't Janet doing the same thing? If she really hated her that much, why was she still visible to her?

The answer?

She was out to get her.

And Vala hadn't figured out the no find thing yet.

Annihilation wasn't possible – they were as annihilated as they could be.

Whatever Vala suspected Janet was planning, it probably wouldn't be pretty for Vala.

All the more reason to spend time with Gemma. Janet wouldn't come after her if Gemma was with her.

But Gemma, it seemed, was still in their parent's good graces and wanted to remain so. So a few weeks after Vala's death, Gemma wanted to visit with their parents.

"Vala, please. They still want to see me – I can't deny them that."

"Yes, you can. You simply say "Sorry Mum, Sorry, Dad, but Vala's here and she has a midget after her. She needs a friend and no one else seems up to the task. Have fun without me."

"No, Vala."

And that was the end of that.

"Oh, that's just great." Vala grumbled. However, Gemma's decision to spend some time with the folks did have one advantage.

She could spy on her favorite archeologist.

Gemma believed spying was rude and unnecessary. She found nothing pleasurable about it, so in a way Vala was glad for the peace. She could check on Daniel.

She found an empty cubicle fairly quickly. When she flicked the screen on, she was hugely disappointed to find him sleeping.

Since when did Daniel sleep? What happened to his coffee?

She wanted to be down there with him, keeping him awake.

Always fun.

"Screen off," A soft yet malicious voice said from behind her. Vala groaned. She had been dreading hearing that voice.

"Hello, Janet." Vala turned to face the petite red head.

"Hello, Vala," Janet answered behind a devious grin. Vala didn't like that grin. She had seen it on too many men who were about to jump her. "Are you enjoying spying on Daniel?"

"Why yes. I only wish I was down with him so you wouldn't be giving me that look."

"What look?" That smile. She was still trying to hide that evil smile.

"The one you're wearing that says you want to kill me."

"Daniel isn't yours, Vala."

"I have an active imagination, Janet. I can get myself whatever I want, and I want Daniel."

"Over my dead body."

"You want to fight over him?"

"No. We'll kill each other. But wait a minute, we're both dead! No worries then."

"I wouldn't be so sure. I may not be able to kill you, but we can fight."

Vala noticed that Janet was hiding something behind her back.

"What are you hiding?"

Janet produced from behind her two long sticks.

"We can spar. Physically, we won't be able to hurt each other, but we can settle our differences this way."

"Fine with me. You're short – piece of cake.

"Easy, Vala. Height isn't everything, you know. "

"Where will the match be?"

"Follow me."

"Honestly, Janet, couldn't you have just told me where and when the match would be held? This is ridiculous." Vala grumbled ten minutes later. She really wanted to go back to the cubicle. It was Daniel, after all. He would probably be awake by now.

"Aw, is Vala tired already?"

"No. Vala just wants to go back and spy on Daniel some more."

"Not on your relationship with your sister. There, we're here now."

"Finally." Vala mumbled, but when she took her disgruntled eyes off her feet, couldn't help but stare.

It was the coliseum of the after life.

And there wasn't an empty seat in the stands.


	5. The Fight

A/N: Sorry for the delay! My computer died amonth and a half ago and there was no real substitute! So this chapter is kind of short, but I hope you enjoy.

The sound was deafening.

Who knew dead people could make such a ruckas?

The coliseum itself was huge. Vala had never seen such a structure while she had been living.

But then again, people come in and out of life. Death was much more permanent, meaning there would be a much higher population count in the after life.

The smile Janet was giving Vala continued to creep up her face.

"Is that smile supposed to intimidate me? Because honestly, it's not working."

"Well then, the rules shouldn't either."

"Rules? There are rules to this nonsense? Come on, now, we're already dead.

"But it gets very dull without rules. This way, wen still have to think."

"There is no thinking in sparring."

"Try telling that to Teal'c or Bra'tac."

There was a tense silence.

"Fine." Vala finally snapped. "Tell me what rules I need to follow."

Janet's smile grew again.

"Garadon, we're ready."

"Wait. I thought we needed rules." Vala interrupted. "Are we fighting or not?

"Oh, we are," Janet answered deviously.

The noise from the crowd continued to increase. Vala looked up at them, knowing they were getting impatient. They had come to see a fight, after all, not two women bickering. In one of the lower rows of seats, Vala could just make out Gemma yelling at an irritable looking couple.

Vala felt herself go white.

Mum and Dad.

And who was this dashing young man walking towards her and the midget? Why was he in the ring with them?

No. They were fighting over Daniel. Going after this one would prove Janet right once and for all.

And Mum, Dad, and Gemma were watching.

"Ladies, are you ready to hear the rules?"

"Why are you giving them?"

"Because he's the referee, Wench."

"Oh." That made sense.

The explanation. The Wench was uncalled for.

But understandable.

"My name is Garadon. Basically, anything that would result in death in the living world is illegal. So none of that. Other than that, sparring only. This is to settle a dispute, remember, not start a war."

"Yeah, because a war down here would never end. No casualties means no losses."

"And just for that comment, there's no speaking either."

"What? Who said you could make the rules?"

"I'm the referee. What I say, goes."

"Fine then."

"Are you ready now?" Garadon asked. Janet and Vala both nodded. "Good. You may take position."

Vala and Janet walked into the center of the ring and a loud cheer arose from the crowd. Finally, they were saying. Finally we can watch this fight. No more waiting. Garadon walked behind them, acting as though he was trying to keep a safe distance from them.

But he might have had a point. They were trained warriors, both women longing over the same man.

"On my whistle, then. Ready, and go!"

The last word was barely heard over the shout of the crowd. Vala and Janet circled, trying to read the other.

There's something about the eyes ofan experienced fighter. The eyes are so intense that only someone with superior experience can read. It's the desire to pound the opponent into the ground, the will to do whatever it takes.

Vala and Janet had the same hunger, the same longing to annihilate each other.

But what would the point be? They were both already dead.

Garadon may have put a stop to a shouting matchwhich would have eventually turned into a catfight, but Vala and Janet were having a vivid conversation just by reading the expression in each other's eyes.

"I had him first, Bitch." Janet was telling Vala. "He was mine."

"You were already here by the time I met him."

"That's not the point."

"Sure it is. In a way, you're guiltier than I am. You actually met Shar'ae and still tried to go after Daniel."

And that's when Janet made the first move. She brought her sparring stick high, but Vala blocked it easily. Janet spun around and went low, and after that was blocked went around the back. Vala blocked that effortlessly as well.

"Bit out of practice, aren't we? Vala's eyes gleamingly told Janet.

"You wish." And with that, Janet found the opening she was looking for. Vala doubled over before remembering that there was still a fight going on. Who knew someone with so little mass could hit so hard?

Before long, Vala was laying on her back and Janet was proclaimed the victor of the fight. Cheers were loud and ecstatic. It looked to Vala as if Janet had been the favorite all along. It made sense, really. She had been there longer, knew more people. And who knew what kind of rumors she could have spread.

Garadon walked over to Vala and offered his hand.

"You fought well. Janet's just really spirited."

"You can say that again," Vala replied, groaning as she pulled herself up. She stole a look to where her family had been sitting. Her father looked pleased, as if he believed that someone needed to teach his daughter a lesson. Her mother looked just downright ashamed, like she always had. Gemma looked crestfallen.

She was the one person in this arena who Vala knew had been rooting for her.

Janet had finally let her smile loose.

"Daniel Jackson is mine, Mal Doran. Lay off him."

"He is not yours." Vala said calmly.

Janet's eyes narrowed.

"What?

"I just told you that Daniel Jackson is not yours."

"Were you present at this fight? You just lost."

"I'm aware of that. But Daniel Jackson belongs to neither of us."

"He's Shar'ae's."

Janet was no longer smiling.

"And as desperate a woman as I know you are, when he gets here, he's going to be looking for Shar'ae. Not you."

"Why you little - " The catfight that Garadon had been trying to prevent broke the barrier that he had put up. Janet threw herself at Vala, who took the tackle with ease and would'verolled Janet onto her back had they been able to make contact with each other. The two of them swatted at each other until Garadon broke up the fight up the fight by hooking Vala with her own discarded sparring stick.

"Slut!" Janet called.

"Desperate Housewife!" Vala called back.

"Enough!" Garadon boomed. "Janet, go back to your quarters. Vala, you come with me."


	6. Rules and Interrogations

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: My computer is back! Yay!

"I can't believe she won!" Vala seethed ten minutes later. "I still can't believe she won! I'm twice her height, how did she do it?"

"She was better trained." Garadon responded.

"I know that. It was a rhetorical question." Vala snapped at him. She began to walk around the two rooms that were assigned to her. "Why did you bring me here? If I'm supposed to be on a time-out, you didn't have to bring me here."

The 'quarters" of a person in the afterlife were two stone rooms, one that was supposed to resemble a parlor and one that was supposed to represent a bedroom. Since they were all dead, it wasn't really necessary to have a bed; it was more of a novelty that each quarter was furnished with them. But even if they were to be slept in, they were made of the same material that the rest of the afterworld was.

Not even Vala would be able to sleep on it.

And she had slept in some uncomfortable places over the years.

And to think of how comfortable the bed she had been so anxious to leave had been.

"No. You are not serving time for punishment. We need to talk about what that fight meant for you."

"It's embarrassment, that's what it was." Vala replied, absent mindedly throwing rocks she had collected at the wall.

"Yes. And now you are not allowed to spy on Daniel Jackson anymore." Vala stopped mid-throw.

"What?"

"You are not allowed – "

"I heard you the first time. What do you mean, I'm not allowed to spy on Daniel Jackson anymore? I'll spy on him whenever I feel like it. In fact, I think I'll go right now, thank you very much." She got up to leave.

"None of the screens will show him to you." Garadon told her without even getting up.

"Oh, yes they will. I'll tell them to show me SG-1."

"They'll show you your friends Teal'c, Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter, and Colonel Cameron Mitchell. They will not show you Doctor Daniel Jackson."

"Well, that's not fair."

"Yes it is. You lost the fight. You were fighting over Daniel Jackson. She won, so therefore she gets the prize. You lost, so you stay away from the prize."

Vala flopped down on the stone bed and banged her head.

"Ow," She groaned, sitting up and rubbing it. "I guess what I don't understand is why Janet gets her when Shar'ae is the one who was actually married to him.

"Shar'ae wanted him to be happy after she died. She didn't want him to be lonely and she was hoping that he would marry Janet."

"Then she must've hoped I would've too, because I met Daniel after Janet was dead."

"No. She was ashamed for you. Now she sits and waits for another woman to come along and make him happy. She wants neither of you to be fawning over him, but she knows she can't control you. Now that you are banished from looking, maybe she will become friends with you."

"But I don't want her friendship. I want to be down there with Daniel."

"I'm sorry, but that's impossible." Vala sighed. This dashing, young man, possibly the most attractive man she had ever met, was as dull as the stone of the bed she didn't need.

"Let me ask you this, Garadon. Did you go to school to be as blunt as you are? Because honestly, I don't think bluntness is that prominent naturally."

"I take offense to that." He did look quite mortified.

"Well, it's the truth, and from what I've seen of you, you like the truth."

"I say what needs to be said. Nothing more."

"Is that why you had me and The Midget – "

"I would prefer if you call her by her name, which is Janet."

"Fine. Is that why you had me and Janet fight in complete silence?"

"I had you fight in silence because you would never start fighting otherwise. You would keep asking questions."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Fighting is physical. Speech is not. Those people in the coliseum did not come to see you talk. They came to see you fight."

Vala was about to go crazy.

"Tell me, Garadon. Do you have feelings?"

"Of course I do. I am human, just like you."

"Swell. Do – did you have a girl friend?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. I did. And she was beautiful."

"What was her name?"

"Why is this relevant? We're here to be talking about what happens to you now that you lost your fight."

"Just answer the question."

Garadon's expression didn't change.

"Her name was – "

At that moment, Gemma broke through Vala's door. She was clearly flustered.

"Vala, I am so sorry. Mum and Dad just said they wanted to see me and then they said they wanted to catch a fight and next thing I knew I was watching you in the ring with – " Her eyes narrowed as she caught sight of Garadon, but soon widened again.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded.

"I might ask you the same thing, Miss Mal Doran."

"She's my sister. I'll come see her whenever I want to. You, on the other hand, only just met her."

"I'm explaining the consequences of – "

"Like greiven you are. If you are, then I'm a Ha'Tac vessel. Out. Now."

Garadon bowed low.

"As you wish, m'lady." He began to leave, but stopped at the door.

"Oh, and Vala, remember. No more spying on Daniel Jackson."

"No!" Vala hollered at him as he disappeared from view. Despite being pissed at Garadon, Vala couldn't help but feel a twinge of pride. She had never seen Gemma take charge of someone like that before. She turned to her sister.

"You learned a lot in twenty years."

"I had you around for fourteen. I had to learn something. But anyway, I am so sorry about what happened today, Vam. I had no idea that was going to happen."

"It only hurt my pride. But tell me, how do you know Garadon?"

"It's not important. I need something to taunt him with."

"Stay away from him, Vam."

"Why, Gel? He seems to stoic to be a threat to anyone."

"He has his moments."

"How do you know him?"

"No, Vam."

"Yes, Gel."

Now they were just staring into each other's eyes, trying to probe each other's mind.

Finally, Gemma broke the intense silence.

"He lived in Olendon with us."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"No. He did."

"Then how come I never met him?"

"Because you were too busy with the guys whom you considered attractive."

"Easy, Sis. But just because he lived on Olendon doesn't explain how you know him."

"He also died in the ambush."

"What ambush?"

"Quetesh's ambush."

"Right, sorry. So he was around then. But why do I get the feeling that there's still something you're not telling me?"

Gemma shifted uncomfortably.

"Stay away from him, Vala. He's dangerous."

"How do you know?"

If it was possible, Gemma looked even more uncomfortable.

"Because when we died, we were dating. And if it weren't for him, I could've gotten away."


	7. Gemma's Confession

A/N: For all my faithful readers – I updated the past six chapters. There are no huge changes, just some minor ones that I deemed necessary. Also, for those of you who think I'm a Janet hater, I'm not. She's my favorite character. That's just the way Vala would see her. Not me by any means. So enjoy this chapter.

* * *

"That was your boyfriend?" Vala screeched. And to think she had been proud of her baby sister for putting herself out there.

"Vala, keep your voice down. I don't want the entire after world to know." Gemma said wearily.

"I would rather you died a virgin!"

"But I did, remember? We never actually got that far."

"You never got there? You would be willing to sleep with that – that rock?"

"No. He wanted to. I refused every time."

Vala flopped down on her bed again, watching out for her head this time. Her baby sister with Garadon? How could her judgement have been any worse?

But like always, Gemma seemed to be able to read Vala's mind.

"Vam, I know it was a bad decision. It cost me my life. I could still be alive and you'd be spying on me, not Daniel. But there's nothing that can be done now, unless I go all the way."

"All the way? With who? Him?"

"You haven't changed a bit. I'll explain in a minute, just let me finish my story, okay? Anyway, the point I was trying to make was that I learned my lesson the hard way. Do you remember anything about the ambush?"

Vala shook her head.

"I don't even remember killing you, do you think I would remember it at all?"

"When you – Quetesh came to Olendon, it was night. Everyone was sleeping. Soro, being the prowler he was, was the first to realize that there was something up set the camp on alert. The men all armed themselves and moved into defensive positions. But the jaffa were too many. They were overpowered within minutes. By this point, the women were awake and knew something was up. You remember that tunnel you made me help you build when you discovered the stargate?"

Vala nodded and smiled. Making nine year old Gemma dig and burrow had been a quite a pleasure.

"I was running for it, but Garadon caught me and took me the topside way. Even if the gate had been guarded, I could've hidden there until you – Quetesh and her army left. But Garadon wouldn't listen. He threw me over his shoulder and ran toward the gate. We were being shot at with staff blasts when he realized what he was doing wouldn't work He threw me on the ground and then turned around and ran." Gemma was shaking. "At least it was quick – I was in shock that he would sacrifice me to save himself. It was in the head. I felt no pain."

Vala could feel her anger subsiding. Gemma had had no choice in her own fate. She wanted nothing more to please others, especially her parents, and what had it gotten her? A boyfriend who had left her for dead when she was more alive than he was. And now here she was, shaking with anger and frustration.

And then Vala felt something for Gemma that she had never felt before.

Pity.

Vala had been the wild one in trouble. Vala was the one who had the attention growing up, because she always had her fingers into something or other. Vala had been the devil of the family – Gemma was the angel.

And as it was with humans, it had been easier for people to concentrate more on what they didn't like than what they did.

Vala had never looked at it this way before. And she sure wished she had. Clearly, Gemma's dating Garadon had been an act of a lonely woman. Not a Janet kind of lonely – the loneliness of a teenaged girl who's been ignored.

Vala wanted to wrap her arms around her sister. She wanted to hold her and tell her that it was alright. Tell her she was sorry that she hadn't been there.

But damn death. She could only touch stone.

Scanning the room, she caught sight of something sitting on the bed that had not been there before. She picked it up to discover a long cloth made from stones woven together with what looked like hemp.

"Come here, Gel."

Gemma sturdied herself as she walked and sat down next to Vala, who draped the cape over Gemma's trembling shoulders. She wrapped it around her and pulled her close.

"I don't know where this thing came from, but wherever it came from, I'm glad it's here."

"Did you want it?"

"I wanted something that would allow me to touch you."

"That's why it's here. The after life is nice because it provides you with whatever you could need or want." Gemma took a deep breath. "No one's held me since I died."

"And I'm sure Garadon didn't really know what he was doing." She held her tighter. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For everything. You were the younger sister, you should've had more attention from Mum and Dad. I should've guided you some. But I was always so conceited, so egotistical that it never happened."

"It's not your fault."

"Yes it is. I was like that until the day I died. I'm still like that."

"No, you're not."

"Believe what you want. But Gel, promise me one thing."

"Anything."

"I know we're dead. But promise me you'll try to find someone else here. You've got so much more choice now. Centuries of charming young men being killed by the Gou'ald, there has to be someone that can make you happy. I'll go with you."

Gemma sat up.

"I can't."

"Why not? I'll keep my mouth shut."

"The only guy I've ever dated was not who I thought he was. Who's to say that I wouldn't make the same mistake again?"

"I'll be there. I have a lot more practice at being able to tell when someone's lying."

Gemma shook her head.

"I can't. I'm too scared." Vala put on a stern and hurt face.

"Virgin."

"Slut."

"Mama's girl."

"Man of the galaxy's choice."

"Watch it, Gemma. I'm not that easy."

"Hey, you started it."

The two sisters laughed. For a minute, it had seemed that they were kids again,fooling aroundafter a fight.

It was nice to know some things never changed.


	8. Visitors

Disclaimer: Gemma is mine. But nothing else is.

"No, Gemma."

"Come on, Vam, it'll be fun."

"What'll be fun is if you tell me where I can take you to meet men."

"Some other time. Tonight we go see Shar'ae."

"Why?"

"Vala. You highjack the ship her husband was taking on a rescue mission, seduce him unsuccessfully, become offended at his disinterest after you return to his home world so you strap some alien bracelet to him that nearly kills him when he is too far away from you, aggravate his teammates to no end and through all this, she wants you to come spend the evening with her! Don't you feel you owe her this?"

Vala thought for a moment.

"I can see where you're coming from."

"Good."

"Doesn't mean I agree, but I understand your point of view. I still don't need to give her anything."

"You can braid my hair afterwards if we go."

"You know I can't touch you."

"Want it hard enough, you'll get some gloves or something."

The idea was intriguing to Vala. While she had been at the SGC, she had found that she liked her hair in what the Taur'i called "pig tails", basically two bunches of hair at either side of her head. That way it was secure and out of her face on missions.

Gemma's hair, however, was a different story. While Vala's dark hair was rough, course, thin, and obedient, Gemma's red hair was soft, silky and thick with a bit of a rebellious streak. One of the few complaints Vala had heard from their parents about Gemma was how she never took care of her hair.

But that was totally untrue. Vala had watched how Gemma fruitlessly fought with it for hours on end. No matter what she did with it, it wouldn't lay flat or stay in the pins. She would never let anyone near it after age eleven because of the way their mother had mercilessly tugged and pulled on it. The result was that it usually just hung in her face.

It hurt too much to think about.

But Gemma was now offering to let Vala braid it.

It would be a new experience for both of them. Gemma never had wanted anyone to play with her hair, she considered it trivial and unnecessary in young girls and had the fear her mother instilled in her. Vala never had wanted to play, preferring to do her own hair to make herself particularly desirable to the young men of the village. But the past few weeks had been interesting for both of them. Something deep inside them had missed their sister for those twenty years. As much as they thought they hated each other, they knew that wasn't true as soon as Gemma had told Vala not to bother checking the view screen. They wanted to be with each other, to get to know the sister they thought they didn't have.

Some things could change. And they had.

Vala was more willing to do things that she had always considered girlish instead of womanish, and Gemma wasn't looking down on what she considered adolescent.

It was the same thing, really, just for different reasons.

Did Gemma's offer sound good?

Yes, indeed.

But was it worth a visit to Shar'ae's?

"Okay, fine. We go to Shar'ae's, I braid your hair. But I want the gloves now." Vala stole a look to her bench-bed. There was a pair of gloves made of the same material the blanket she had wrapped Gemma in a week previously was sitting at the foot.

"See? What did I tell you?"

Vala chose to ignore that comment. Her egotistical side was still prominent.

"Let's make this quick. I want that hair out of your face within the next few hours."

Shar'ae welcomed them with a smile.

"Hello, Gemma. It is nice to see you again."

"It's good to see you too, Shar'ae. I believe you've met my sister, Vala?"

"We've met briefly."

"You mean Janet's been with you."

Gemma shot Vala a death look.

If Vala didn't know Gemma, she would've questioned her claim of dying a virgin right there. Most virgins didn't have that power in them.

"Yes," Shar'ae looked uncomfortable. "That is one of the reasons why I invited you here today."

"To discuss Janet?"

"In a way. But mostly, I wanted to get to know you without her judgment clouding mine."

For someone who had been the daughter of the chief of a nomadic tribe ruled for centuries by Ra who was notorious for making sure his people were not educated, Shar'ae had some valuable wisdom. Vala could see why she and Gemma got along so well.

"I know of your attraction to my Daniel - "

Vala felt a wave embarrassment wash over her.

" – but I am not angry with you. Before he met me, there was no one. And he was lonely. Very lonely. He was buried in his work – "

"He still is."

" – so much that he never met anyone. He had no money. And then he got the opportunity to come through the chappa'ai and his life changed. Since you have died, it is the first time that he has truly felt that alone again. So am I angry at you for desiring my husband? No. I thank you."

Vala was shocked. This was not what she was expecting at all. Gemma too, seemed slightly moved by what had just come out of Shar'ae's mouth.

"Um…your welcome. Anything else I can do while I'm in the neighborhood?" The three of them laughed.

For the next hour, Shar'ae, Vala and Gemma shared stories. Vala and Shar'ae knew pretty much all of Gemma's stories already – there weren't very many – but Vala had some that left Gemma and Shar'ae howling with laughter on the floor.

Most of them, of course, were sexual.

"Vala, I swear, one of us was adopted." Gemma heaved, wiping her eyes.

"Probably me – they liked you, remember? And Gemma, are you sure you died a virgin? The Gemma I remember would leave the room if the word "sex" was mentioned."

"The Gemma you remember was fourteen, Vala. Six years passed between your departure and the attack."

"Things change, Vala, things change." Shar'ae added.

"That's for sure. I for one would've guessed that they patch you up before sending you into the after life."

"Speaking of that…would you be willing to do a shift in one of the reception rooms? It is always nice for more people to help out."

"You mean Anna doesn't do everyone?"

"Gods, no. She'd be overloaded with no sign of relief. No, there are many people who do it."

Vala shrugged.

"I don't have any medical training."

"We could teach you what you need to know. It's not difficult."

"Shar'ae, what Vala finds easy is not what the rest of us find easy. I'm sure – "

"I'll do it."

"What?" Gemma was shocked. This was the sister who had left her for dead with a broken leg when she was ten. Vala had gotten quite an earful from their father for that one.

"I'll do it."

Gemma raised an eyebrow.

"If I may ask, why?"

"Why is it every time I try to do something nice people think I'm up to something?"

"Because usually that's why you're nice to people."

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?"

"No. It's the truth."

"Don't make me change my mind. Because I just might, with that attitude coming from you."

Gemma shrugged.

"Fine. But you're up to something. Don't think I don't know."

Two days later, Vala stood in a reception room very much like the one she had first opened her eyes in.

Gemma really did know Vala too well, because she was indeed up to something.

While she had been living, Vala had never gone so long without sex since she lost it to Clane Dar Selna when she was fifteen. Maybe, just maybe, a handsome young man would be the one to appear before her. She needed a good bang.

Gods, she missed Daniel.

Suddenly, the screen in the back room lit up. A young woman was lying in bed. A man sitting next to the bed was stroking her face.

"Leda…I love you."

"I know, Jaret. I love you too." She took a deep breath. The man stood up and took her face in his hands.

"Leda, you're stronger than this. Beat the fever, Leda, beat the fever! Don't give up!"

Leda opened her eyes again.

"I'm sorry," She breathed. "I love you." And with that she died.

Moments later, she was in the bed in front of Vala.


	9. Leta

Disclaimer: I own Gemma and nothing else.

A/N: Short Chapter this time around. Enjoy!

So much for a good bang, Vala thought to herself. But she was here now and needed to help Leda into the afterlife.

The man, Jaret, had said something about a fever. That meant Leda got to drink the blue medicine. Vala was glad she was unconscious when Anna patched up the staff wound on her back. Orange medicine. It looked absolutely revolting.

As Vala eased the blue liquid down Leda's throat, she couldn't help but wonder who Jaret was. They obvious they had something going. Men just didn't stay at any woman's deathbed and ask her to fight fevers. There had to be something more there.

But Vala knew she couldn't ask questions. Gemma had threatened her to no end.

And Vala knew Gemma would find out somehow.

Leda shifted. Wow, that blue stuff really worked.

"Jaret?" She muttered.

"No," Vala said softly.

"Daniel?" Leda tried again. This took Vala aback for a minute. But then she shook it off. There had to be more than one Daniel in the galaxy. She was also slightly miffed. Sure, she had a deep voice for a woman, but honestly.

"No." She kept her patience. When Leda realized that she was dead it would be a shocker – she didn't need anything else upsetting her.

"My name is Vala. I'm helping you get well."

"I've had this fever for weeks, what make you think you can heal it?" Leda looked around. "Where are we?"

"We're in one of our reception rooms."

"Our? I don't understand. Where's Jaret?"

"He's back on your home world."

"What? I'm not in the Wran Protectorate?" She had a worried look on her face. "We're not in Calandaria, are we?"

"No."

"Then where are we? And how did I get here? The last thing I remember – " Her eyes grew wide. " - was Jaret bringing food and water to wipe my head with. That must mean – am I dead?

Vala nodded.

"Gods," Leda muttered, rubbing her forehead. "No wonder there isn't any pain. This bed is comfortable, though."

"Don't get used to it. The beds in the reception rooms are the only ones here. Once you're dead, you don't really need to sleep so they give you a slab of rock instead of a bed."

"No."

"Yes." There was a moment of silence.

"So you're saying I'm never going to sleep again?"

"You can if you want to. There's just no need to and no sympathy if you want to."

"And Jaret used to call that bed a torture rack."

"Who was he?"

"My husband. He wasn't picky about much, but when it came to beds, you could never make him happy."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Depends."

"Before you opened your eyes, you were calling another name. Who was he?"

Leda winced.

"It wasn't Daniel by any chance, was it?"

"It was, actually."

"Well, that's embarrassing."

"Why?"

"About eight months ago, a team of explorers came to our planet and because of it a civil war broke out. One of them was trapped on the planet with us. His name was Daniel."

"It wasn't Daniel Jackson, was it?"

Leda narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Yes. Do you know him? Is he here too?"

"No, he's not. But you're not the only girl who has been attracted to him. Be wary – his wife is here."

"Gods, I didn't know he was married."

"Neither did I."

"You were attracted too?"

"Yes. You didn't visibly try to seduce him, did you?"

"No. I tried to suppress the feelings."

"Good. Then you should be okay. People are still fuming at me anyway, you should escape unscathed."

"You're not making me feel much better. And you're not making much sense either. Explain, please."

Vala explained what had happened aboard Prometheus and about Janet and Shar'ae.

"So just don't go seeking out Janet and worst come to worst, become friends with Shar'ae. She'll side with you."

Leda sat there, looking pensive.

"So the jealous woman is the one who has the problem with everyone else?"

"Yeah. Ironic, isn't it? She even met Shar'ae in real life. Shar'ae just wants him to happy. We should start a club up here – The "We Had A Thing For Daniel Jackson" Club."

Leda got up and began walking to the door, but fell almost instantly. Vala picked her up and put her back on the bed.

"Another thing you should know – once you leave this room, you won't be able to make contact with anyone. You will only be able to touch stone."

"But you and I are touching."

"I'm nursing you back to your strength. It's the only exception."

"I'm sorry, but that makes no sense."

"I know."

"How long to I have to stay here?"

"At least another day."

"By the means that you can't walk yet."

"I want out."

"Enjoy the bed. You'll see what I mean when you get out of here. The front halls of any residence are always the nicest."

Leda cuddled under the covers, pouting.

But Vala was shocked.

Where had this maternal side come from?


	10. Bribes and Meetings

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"No, Vala."

"Come on, Gel, it'll be fun."

"What'll be fun is if you take me to meet Leda."

"Some other time. Tonight we go have fun."

"Running around and sweet talking random men is not my idea of fun. It's yours."

"Come on, Gel, live a little!"

"But we're dead, Vala, we're dead. Deceased. Gone. Pushing up daisies. Gone to meet our maker."

"But think of all the men who are dead, deceased, gone, pushing up daisies and are meeting their maker who left that world single, like you did. And hey! You have a bigger selection then you ever did on Olendon. Come on, lots of guys will want to meet a pretty young thing like you."

"I'm not pretty."

"Now who told you that?"

"Father."

"When?"

"Everyday."

"You know what his problem is? He didn't want you to turn into me. Now, come on, let's go."

When Vala had been finishing up with Leda, Leda had requested to meet Shar'ae. Seeing no harm in this, Vala had gone with her and scoffed when Leda apologized to Shar'ae for her conduct with Daniel.

This visit with Shar'ae, however, proved to be very beneficial.

Not only did Shar'ae know where to be, but when these areas would be occupied by single young men.

When Vala had come to see Gemma that day she was almost leaping instead of running. Gemma, as much as she had come to enjoy her sister's company, couldn't help but worry. Vala had made some behavior improvements, but such changes take time.

She hadn't been at all surprised when Vala hadn't proposed but imposed this offer on her.

Gemma was now considering Shar'ae the ultimate traitor. She would have to have a talk with her later.

But not yet. Right now, she had to fend off a very excited Vala.

"I'm not going," Gemma stated. "I don't want to go and if I will that blanket to go away hard enough it will."

"And why not, Gel? Your hair looked so pretty when it was braided."

"It doesn't matter."

"Why not?"

"Because I feel like la'at turd inside."

"You don't have to feel that way."

"Which is exactly why I should stay here. Here, I don't have to. I can stay here and work on this new tunic I started making for Garadon."

Vala sighed. Despite how much Gemma believed Vala had changed (which Vala knew she hadn't, she just could hide it better), Gemma hadn't changed much at all. She stayed away from crowded areas and avoided people as much as she could and because of this, people took advantage of her.

Like Garadon in this situation. He knew Gemma wanted nothing to do with him, and yet he was able to talk her into making this tunic for him.

If he could feel pain, Vala would've made sure he felt some.

"Alright, Gel, here's the deal. If you go with me tonight and let me braid your hair again, I'll finish Garadon's tunic for you."

Gemma looked up at her sister.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

Gemma narrowed her eyes.

"What are you up to?"

"Nothing. I just want to get you out. You can even show me how you want it done."

"Are you saying that you're willing to let me sit here and teach you how to sew?"

Vala nodded.

"Only if you come with me tonight."

Gemma paced around the room, contemplating this.

"Okay, fine. But we don't stay for very long."

"Fine. Now sit your butt down here." Gemma sat on the slab and Vala wrapped the blanket around her and put the gloves on her own hands. She picked up the soft, silky mane and began to mold it.

"Don't pull to hard."

"I'm not."

"I know. Just don't do it."

She's not liking this, Vala thought to herself, I'm going to have to watch her every minute.

Vala had never been more right about anything in her life.

As soon as they had walked into the social arena, Gemma had tried to turn around and call the deal off. Luckily, Vala had worn the gloves and was able to drag her sister back into the room. Vala hoped nobody had seen it. Gemma hoped every one did.

Then someone would nail Vala for abuse.

"Vala, I can't do this," she whimpered.

"Yes, you can," Vala whispered back. "This is no worse than being nice to me."

"That's an art within itself."

"I know. Just pretend they're me."

"You want me to insult them?"

"No. Be nice, like you know you are. And be yourself. Just not the shy part."

Reluctantly, Gemma sauntered out into the middle of the room and sat down, the new white dress she was wearing flowing out underneath her.

Vala really didn't understand why the after life had to have rules. Only after a certain amount of time would she be allowed to touch anything that wasn't stone. Gemma had been there long enough to at least change her clothes and made herself stuff frequently. Vala hadn't needed to push her at all to wear this dress – it was new and she wanted to wear it.

Vala would be stuck in the Taur'i regulation black that she had died in for quite a while.

Not that she cared. It did suit her well.

But this whole not being able to touch anything thing was really annoying her. She couldn't even hold a glass of something to make it look like she was doing anything.

Lucky for her, she had brought her stone gloves.

So no worries then.

She made her way over to what looked like the bar and asked for a glass of water. That was pretty much the safest bet for anything.

Never trust foreign liquor. Major Carter could attest to that one.

But the scruffy bartender wouldn't for the life of him hand her a simple stone glass of water.

After ten minutes of asking nicely, Vala lost her patience.

"Hey you! You with the hair! Are you deaf?" He looked up at her.

"Never insult my hair." He snarled, and went back to work.

"Well then, get me a glass of water." He produced an empty glass and almost threw it at her. She picked it up and threw it at his head.

"Water. Now."

"Whatever." He picked it up off the ground, filled it, and handed it too her.

"Thank you." Vala said sweetly, and turned back to watching her sister. Gemma was sitting where she had plopped down earlier, looking as innocent and as bored as could be. Vala could see several eyes glancing in Gemma's direction and she knew Gemma didn't see them or was ignoring them if she did.

One of them looked like he was from the Taur'i, because he had what she had heard Major Carter ranting about all the way up his arms. What were they called again? Tattoos? Yes, that was it. Tattoos.

Too burly.

There was one who was skinnier than Vala in the corner. He kept looking over his shoulder at Gemma wistfully.

Too shy. Gemma needed someone with at least some courage.

Too fat.

Too ugly.

Too experienced.

Too old.

The list went on and on. Vala never knew she could be so picky when it came to men.

But these weren't for her. The one she was looking for now was for Gemma.

"Hey," A voice said behind her. Vala turned around. It was the bartender.

"I thought you were supposed to be serving people drinks."

"I've got someone covering it right now." He slid in front of her, blocking her view. He wasn't even all that attractive.

"I wanted to apologize for my behavior back there. It was completely uncalled for."

"You're forgiven. Now if you don't mind, I'm chaperoning here." Vala pushed the nerdy bartender out of her way to find Gemma exactly as she had been before.

"I'm Steve."

"I'm glad to know that."

"Interesting name."

"My name is none of your business." Vala really couldn't care less about Steve. What she did care about was she finally found a suitable man for Gemma who was eying her.

He looked to be about eighteen or nineteen, was not very tall or wide, and clearly not of the Taur'i. No man on that world would grow his hair that long and care for it that well.

He also had courage. He walked right up to Gemma.

Vala was proud of him. He met all her requirements and was man enough to talk to a girl he found attractive.

Good for him.

Gemma seemed a surprised at his forwardness. He offered her his hand and she stood up. They chatted for a minute and then Gemma clearly excused herself. She ran over to Vala.

"I talked to him. That's enough. You're learning to sew."

And with that, she ran out of the room.


	11. You Can Run, But You Can't Hide

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except Gemma.

A/N: I changed the genre of this story. It really wasn't going in the humor direction. Summery might change soon too.

"Gemma, wait!" Vala called, but it was too late. Gemma was small enough to slide through any crowd, and she had done so frequently enough that she had gotten quite good at it. Vala looked back at the boy who had approached Gemma.

He deserved an explanation.

Well, this was a turn around. Vala was doing the explaining for Gemma.

He had actually earned more points in Vala's eyes. He tried to follow Gemma on her first flight and had seen Vala. He broke his way through all the way through the crowd.

"Is she okay?" He asked. His accent was strangely familiar. Definitely not Taur'i. Not Olendon either.

"She's fine. Just inexperienced and afraid."

"Afraid?" The boy looked confused. "I thought I was gentle."

"You were. She just has an older sister who was a bit too interested in sex as a teenager." She took a swig of water to give herself a second. But other than that, it did nothing for her. She missed the satisfaction it used to give her. "I'd try again when she resurfaces."

"What was wrong with her sister?"

"There was nothing wrong with me. I'm just very forward." The boy paled.

"I am sorry, I meant nothing – "

"I know." She really didn't care. "What exactly did she tell you?"

"Her name. And I told her mine."

"Which is?"

"I am Ska'ara." Vala didn't recognize the name. But she had definitely heard that accent somewhere before.

"I'd try again, Ska'ara. She grew up watching me sneak out every night and the of our parent shame grow by the day. She's afraid she'll dishonor herself and fall out of favor with them. She had to either be the same as me or the exact opposite. She chose the opposite."

"Are you sure? Would you be willing to allow me to pursue her?"

"By talking to me now, you've filled all my requirements for her. I want her to put herself out there. She died a virgin, and I can't help but feel I had something to do with that."

Ska'ara smiled.

"I did too."

"Well then, I approve more. You won't take advantage of her." Vala smiled at him. "I'm Vala."

"I have already told you that I am called Ska'ara."

"Where are you from, Ska'ara?"

"I am from world that is called Abydos."

Abydos…it sounded familiar. Wait…could it be?

"Ska'ara, do you know someone named Shar'ae?"

"Yes. We grew up on Abydos together."

A smile crept across Vala's face.

"Ska'ara, I think I know how we can get you and Gemma in a room together without her bolting."

"I still can't believe you I got you to learn how to sew." Gemma said in a very sing-song voice. "I did what mother couldn't!"

"Don't go bragging, now, no one needs to know."

"Sure, sure. It'll be another secret between you and me."

She just couldn't stop smiling.

Vala was smiling that much inside.

But she was not going to let it show. She had to pretend to have not met Ska'ara. It would ruin the entire plan if she broke.

"And you made the arrangements to go see Shar'ae!"

"People are allowed to change."

"Yes, but who would've thought that you could? Did I ever tell you how much I love you?"

"A few too many times."

"Ah well. Better too many times then not enough. Who's going to be there again?"

"Shar'ae, us, Leta, Janet, and a friend of Shar'ae's that we don't know," Vala answered, poking herself with the needle and cursing silently. "All and all, it should be fun."

"Yeah. Come on! You can finish that later."

Vala had never seen her sister this happy. Gemma was almost giddy as they walked down the long corridors.

"Garadon's going to love that tunic, just wait until I tell him you made it – "

"Gemma," Vala started suddenly, "Why do you still cater to him?"

"I don't" Gemma replied, her mood suddenly dropping. Her voice became bitter. "I'm just doing something nice for him."

"But you really don't have to. He doesn't deserve kindness. He deserves to be left alone, just as he left you to die."

Gemma shrugged.

"For the most part, he was good to me."

"But at the most crucial moment, he betrayed you."

Gemma stopped in her tracks and faced her sister.

"Vala, what was your idea of the perfect man growing up?"

"Someone who can give me a good time and enjoy himself in the process."

"See? That was yours. Mine was someone who needed me, someone who needed help mending tunics and someone to support him."

"You wanted to be a bed warmer?"

"Never mind. I should've known you wouldn't understand."

"Oh, I understand, alright."

"No, you don't. No matter how hard you try, no matter what you say, no matter what you do, you won't get it. And you never will. So let's just go to Shar'ae's and have a good time, like we're supposed to be doing."

"Fine then. Let me contemplate the meaning of true obedience while we sit and chat about this, that, and the other thing. In the mean time, Gemma Mal Doran, you should contemplate the meaning of freedom. And later, when we're done there, you define freedom to me. I'll define obedience. Now let's go."

Shar'ae was waiting for them at the entrance to her quarters, just as she was supposed to according to the plan. Vala was always amazed at how well Gemma could put a smile back on her face in the presence of company.

"Shar'ae, it's so nice to see you again." The two of them nodded at each other. Behind Gemma's back, Shar'ae shot Vala a look of confusion.

Vala had always been a good liar. But not in good company.

"Why don't you two come inside? We were just about to sit down."

"That would be lovely, Shar'ae."

Vala wanted to puke.

They entered the chamber.

And Vala had trouble not laughing at her sister when Gemma realized that the friend of Shar'ae's was Ska'ara.


	12. Definitions

Disclaimer: I own Gemma.

Vala had been amazed when Ska'ara agreed to sit in on the social event of five women. She was gaining more and more respect for him.

Gemma took one look at him and motioned Vala out the door.

"I knew you were up to no good." She snarled.

"You're going back in there," Vala said sternly. "I learned to sew for you."

"That was to get me to the party. There was nothing in that deal about this."

"You're here now. You wouldn't want to insult Shar'ae now, would you?"

"But I can't face him."

"Janet's in there as well. Do you think that's easy for me?"

"No. But you're doing what you've always done – bribe and do whatever necessary to get whatever you want, Vala. I should've known this was coming."

"Gemma, you have to trust me here. You need to get away from Garadon."

"Define trust for me."

"Define relationship."

The silence was tense.

"Alright, fine. But we're doing this for Shar'ae."

The two of them walked in, shoulder to arm, clearly slightly agitated.

Shar'ae smiled at them. Leda and Janet looked slightly confused but politely hid it. Vala quickly nabbed the seat next to Shar'ae, which sat Gemma directly across from Ska'ara.

"Well, since we're all here now, let's go around and tell everyone what we've been up to. Ska'ara, it has been long since I have seen you. How have you been?" Shar'ae asked. Gemma wanted to hit her.

"I have been well. I have been playing games with the other Abydonian boys. We play a game O'Neill taught me. I believe he called it soccer."

"That sounds like fun. Perhaps we can come watch you sometime. Leda?"

"I've discovered the view screens. This is a comfort to me, I can see my husband and make sure he is doing well."

"I am glad to hear it. Janet?"

"I've been practicing my sparring lately. It's always good to keep in shape."

Vala wasn't sure if this was directed or her or not, but she was glad she couldn't touch people yet. She would've socked Janet back to Earth.

"I've also been watching SG-1 and my daughter. They were close to me for a long time."

"I'm glad to hear you are still watching them. Gemma?"

"I've been teaching Vala to sew." The response came out bitter, but no one seemed to notice. They were all staring at the two of them.

"You're learning to sew?" Janet asked incredulously.

"Yes. Gemma and I made an agreement, and I stuck to it."

"Well, good for you," Leda congratulated her.

"Why is this such a big deal?" Ska'ara asked.

"Vala has trouble sitting still," Janet explained. "For someone to get her to just sit there long enough to sew anything is quite a feat."

"I understand," Ska'ara affirmed.

The evening continued as such. Vala and Gemma were both becoming very bored.

Vala had been hoping Ska'ara would be a bit more forward, but he was really taking his time in the matter.

Gemma was getting more and more nervous. Vala had committed the biggest betrayal she could have, and now she just wanted to get out of here.

This Ska'ara character…he was interesting. He had been a Gou'ald host, just as Vala had. A race called the Tollan had taken his symbiote out.

He was also different than every other man she'd ever met. All the men on Olendon were domineering patriarchs.

Ska'ara seemed to enjoy the company of the women and didn't seem bothered by being the only male in the room.

Finally, Vala decided it was time to leave.

"This has been great, Shar'ae, but Gemma and I should really be going now. We're working on a tunic for someone."

"I'm sure it will turn out well," Ska'ara said politely.

"Thank you Ska'ara," Vala replied. "I hope we get the chance to see you again soon."

She hid the smile on her face from Gemma, who pulled her out the door.

"Gemma, Darling, that exit wasn't very polite."

"Define polite."

"What you usually do. Mother used to be so proud of you, what happened today?"

"You happened, that's what."

"Now, that's not very nice."

"But Vala, every time I found some way to enjoy myself when we were still alive, you somehow managed to ruin it. Do you know how many possible friends I had who I never saw again after they met you? Do you know just what Mother and Father put up with from you? Do you have any idea of the damage you caused?"

"Gemma, I just wanted – "

"What I wanted to forget! I worked so hard to make myself a normal girl! And every time I made any bit of progress in that goal, you stole something or screwed someone else! No more! I'm done, Vala Mal Doran, enough is enough!"

She stopped to take a breath.

"I'm through with you. I should just ascend right now, it would make my life easier because I would never have to see you again! Because you want to know why? Because you will never ascend. Because you're a slut. Spell it out. S. L. U. T. And I will put up with no more. I don't want to talk to you or have anything to do with you."

She turned and raced down the hallway. At the corner, she stopped and looked at the stunned Vala.

"Define love for me, Vala." And then she ran around the corner.

"Gemma, wait." Vala called out. But when Vala turned the corner that her sister had moments before rounded, there was no one there.

She had chosen not to be found by Vala.

Vala walked back to her quarters slowly. Out of everyone she had ever known, all the men she had ever screwed, Gemma had been the person she cared most about. She cared more about Gemma than even Daniel. And now by trying to help her, she had lost her for the second time.

And it had been her fault both times.

Fate was clearly not on her side.

When she finally did reach her quarters after what felt like years later, the first thing she noticed was the nearly finished tunic on the stone bed. It really wasn't that bad for a first try. There was just a bit more hemming to be done along the outside.

Vala knew that she shouldn't give it to Garadon, but she also knew that Gemma was less likely to accept her back again if she didn't.

One thought was running through her head that was bothering her a bit more than all the others, though.

Gemma had used the word 'ascend' in a sentence while she was yelling at Vala. Vala knew that Daniel had become an ancient for a year and she wondered if that's what Gemma meant.

She needed to ask someone about this.

Anna was out of the question. After bringing Vala around that first time, she had been reluctant to talk to her.

Leda wasn't a good idea, Vala had brought her here.

Ska'ara would probably side with Gemma, meaning Shar'ae would as well.

She wanted to reincarnate Garadon and kill him again after she gave him his tunic.

Steve was slightly creepy.

There was one person left.

And Vala knew that if she wanted to be friends with her sister again, she would need to make peace with Janet Frasier.


	13. Questions and Feelings

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Vala went the long way to Janet's. By no means was she excited by this visit. Janet had many reasons to hate her and hate her she did.

But she had seemed civil lately.

Maybe Shar'ae had had something to do with that. But whatever it was, Vala needed to talk to someone with a sensible head screwed on her shoulders and someone who had been here a while.

As Vala passed what used to be the opening to Gemma's quarters, a fresh wave of sadness seeped through her. It was solid rock now. Gemma had been serious in what she said.

Not that Vala had expected anything different. Gemma always had been the stoic one.

Probably another reason why their parents loved her so much. No one in Olendon had had a sense of humor or fun. A sense of honor, yes, but what good is honor if you don't enjoy it?

By the time Vala finally reached Janet's quarters, Vala had already turned around to head home twice. The pride that had gotten her in so much trouble in years past was getting in the way yet again. And she wasn't even insulting anyone. She was doing what most warriors found the most difficult.

She was asking for help.

After standing outside the quarters for what felt like an eternity, Vala finally knocked and entered.

When Janet glanced up from the sketch she was working on, the look on her face was one of shock, to say the least. There was a tense moment of silence until Janet opened her mouth to speak.

"So she finally lost it with you, did she?" Vala was expecting some kind of smug smile to go along with this comment, but to her amazement, there was none.

"How did you know?" Was all she could muster.

"Vala, everyone this side of the underworld heard her. Your sister has some set of lungs on her, let me tell you that."

"Learned trait. Almost died when she was born because her lungs didn't work right away."

"Well, it had to come from somewhere. I assume you're here to see me because of that tiff?"

"Yes, actually. I wanted to ask some questions."

Janet raised an eyebrow at Vala.

"You wanted to ask me, the woman who won't let you watch the last man you unsuccessfully tried to seduce, some questions about your sister?"

"Not exactly."

"Then why? Why are you here?" Janet stood up. Even though she only reached Vala's chin, there was something menacing about her.

"Did you come here to have me solve your problem for you? I defeated you in the sparring ring so therefore I'm more capable at solving problems?"

"Janet – "

"I won't! I won't fix what you messed up, Vala Mal Doran. Quite honestly, if you can't figure out your own sister, then it's not my problem."

"Janet! I only wanted to know more about the afterworld! You've been here longer than I have!"

This stopped Janet mid-shout.

"You didn't understand what she was screaming at you?"

"Not all. I got most of it."

"Well then," Janet said, suddenly passive again. She indicated a spot next to her on the bed. "Come, sit here."

Vala approached with caution.

"Vala, I'm not going to eat you."

"You've already bawled me out once this visit."

"I won't do it again."

Vala raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"I promise. Now do you want to ask your questions or not?"

Vala sat on the offered surface.

"There. Now ask away."

"I take it that since you heard Gemma's rant, you could hear every word she said?"

Janet nodded.

"Well, it was pretty straight forward. She probably put it in small words because she thought I wouldn't understand it otherwise. But the one part I didn't get was the part where she said "I should just ascend right now". Now, I know that at one point Daniel was on a higher plane of existence, and I'm wondering if it's the same thing. But the thing is, if she's already dead, how can she ascend?"

Janet looked as though she was suppressing a grin.

"There is so much you haven't learned yet."

"Well don't just sit there! Answer the question."

"The Ancients run the afterworld."

"Oh, that explains a lot." It actually did. It explained why there was no décor and why no one was allowed to touch immediately after their death.

"Let me finish. They run the afterworld and watch who comes in. Every once in a while, someone who they feel has taken steps to Enlightenment enters. An Ancient will then meet with that person and explain what else must be done to achieve it and given to option to one day join the ranks of the Ancients."

Vala looked at Janet with complete incredulousness.

"Are you saying the Ancients singled out my sister as a possible powerful being?"

"Yes, they did. They quite liked her, too."

"What do they have to see to decide if they like this person or not?"

"I'm not sure. Gemma would be a better person to ask."

"One thing, though, Janet, Gemma and I currently aren't talking, remember?"

"I know. But knowing who you are, you'll find a way to get into her good graces again."

"Can a person who they didn't single out ascend after being here?"

"I don't know. I wasn't one of the chosen."

There was an awkward silence.

"Can I ask you a little more personal question?" Vala asked finally.

"Ask it. I can't guarantee an answer, though."

"What did you see in Daniel?" It had been weighing on Vala's mind heavily for some time now. It seemed to take Janet aback quite a bit.

"I'm not sure." She began slowly. "I think I thought we could give each other what the other needed. He needed someone to really believe in him when Shar'ae had gone missing, someone he could tell his problems to. I loved a man when I was younger. I loved him too much. He left me after I enrolled in medical school. He wanted a beautiful broodmare at home. It cut deep. Really deep. And there was Daniel – his wife involuntarily taken away from him and thinking it was his fault. I guess I saw a connection there. I was there for him when he couldn't save Shar'ae. I was there to patch up all his bruises and to tell him not to do it again, even though I knew he would. But then he could save me, either. I'm just glad he's toughened up a little bit. SG-1's been good for him in so many ways. Painful ways, but some very fulfilling ways as well."

She turned to face Vala, but quickly turned away again. Vala couldn't help but notice the tears in her eyes.

"Janet, I'm sorry if – "

"No, don't be sorry. I needed to get this out. Funny how you still have emotions when you're dead."

She smiled at Vala.

"You were lucky when you got here. You had Gemma. And I know you tried to help her. Don't give up. Just give her some time. Garadon was horrible to her. You did the right thing by tricking her into seeing Ska'ara. He's a good kid."

Vala stood up to leave, a new sense of respect for the woman in front of her growing.

"I'll go now. I don't want to intrude on your feelings. I'm sorry to bring all this back."

"No, Vala. Thank you."

"For what?"

"For making me feel this way."


	14. Parties and Their Downsides

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: It's been a year. I am aware of this. I'm sorry. I'm almost done writing this, I know how it's going to end, but I just wanted to put this up so I could put at least one thing up. I plan on finishing the rest of the chapters before I post any more. Stay tuned.

Over the next few weeks, Janet and Vala formed a tense truce. Vala still was not allowed to spy on Daniel, but Janet no longer rubbed it in her face. They were not good friends, but they were civil. It seemed that Gemma, in her anger, had brought them together. Vala needed a friend and Janet honestly thought that Gemma was overreacting.

However, Gemma still remained unfindable to Vala and Ska'ara and then to Janet when she saw whose side she was blatently taking. Shar'ae was smart enough to stay out of it by refusing to discuss the issue with anyone and Ska'ara had resorted to leaving notes for Gemma, which were found days (Was it days? Vala was losing her sense of time) later ripped up.

Despite her feelings on the matter, Vala did finish Garadon's tunic. It hung in her bedchamber for what must have been a week before she could no longer stand what it represented. It stood for the abuse of her sister and it could no longer stay there. It was soon deposited in front of Gemma's solid wall, neatly folded.

When Vala arrived in the afterlife, she would have moped around and complained about being able to do nothing in the afterlife had Gemma not shown up. Now, though, knowing she had her pair of stone gloves and Asgard technology at her disposal, she could do pretty much whatever she wanted. Mostly she and Janet sat in viewing rooms and watched people they knew and told stories about them, but she did manage to retrieve some Taur'i roller skates. Slipping the gloves over her feet and having Janet tie them up, she could zoom around the stone fortress and explore faster than she would be able to otherwise. It was really quite fun.

And as much as Vala hated to admit it, Gemma not talking to her did allow her to hit up the parties more often. However, it seemed that Steve showed up whenever she was about to get lucky.

No bartender got to know his clients that well. Especially the clients who only ever ordered water.

It was only after Steve got in the way of a handsome warrior from a planet called Kennella that Vala finally lost her cool.

"Steve, just go away."

"Why?" He had an evil gleam in his eye that Vala didn't like. But she was still untouchable, so all was good on that front.

"Because you are old and ugly with disgusting stringy hair and won't leave me alone! I am not interested in you!"

"Vala, my dear, when are you going to learn that my hair is my best feature?"

"It took me two minutes to figure that out, Steve. And I am not impressed by it or your insistence on stalking me around the afterworld! Just go away! I never want to see you again."

Vala turned to leave, but as she wove through the crowd, Steve just followed her.

"Vala – "

"What part of go away do you not understand?" Vala ran out of the room before tripping and falling on her face. Steve came out of the room and ran right over her.

"Vala!" He shouted as he continued to run.

"Don't need to shout, I'm right here." Vala snapped as she pushed herself onto her knees.

But Steve continued to run. This confused Vala. He had run right through her – surely he should have noticed.

Unless…

Had she made herself unfindable?

There was no way to tell unless she went looking for Steve, but if she was indeed unfindable, there was no reason not to go back to the party.

Vala was still unable to hold anything that was not made of the ever present stone, but with the help of her gloves, she was able to hold a cup of something and make it look like she was drinking out of it. This way, she was able to maneuver her way around and at least appear comfortable with the situation.

But unfortunately, her run-in with Steve only attracted the women at the gathering. The attractive men seemed completely put off by her outburst and the ugly ones looked at her either suspiciously or hurt.

Even in death, men were such babies.

The women, however, were amused and impressed by her insistence that Steve stay away. At least ten of them almost immediately flocked to her, like she was some carcass that the head of some tribe dragged in for dinner. They all seemed to think Vala was their new best friend and were fighting over the right to tell her their best stories.

There was no choice but to leave.

Making excuse after excuse, Vala finally found her way to the door. She turned the corner and instantly wished to become unfindable, hoping that's the way it had worked with Steve. And sure enough, one of them, whose name happened to be Palmyra., followed her out the door and walked right through her, calling her name.

Vala sighed in relief and walked right through another woman – one who had not been one of the groupies.

"I'm sorry," Vala said, quite embarrassed.

"It's alright," the woman answered. "I saw the whole thing. I probably would have done the same."

"I'm Vala, by the way. Vala Mal Doran."

"I'm Shyla. I have no last name.

Vala chuckled.

"Lucky."

"Not really." Shyla answered bluntly. "It's great among your people – few enough of you to know everyone by name - , but once you get into the bigger picture, there are so many of you that it would be useful to have a last name."

Vala shrugged.

"For a good part of my life, I was a thief. No last name would have been nice because then my family would not have suffered. They all got here before me."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not you're fault. It's my own. My sister is fuming mad at me right now, but not for being the cause of her death. She got over that long ago. She's mad at me for something stupid."

Shyla smiled gently.

"I'm sure she's not as mad as she seems. And if she is? Think of something she always wanted from you."

Shyla smiled again and made for the door to the gathering inside.

"Think about it."

Vala stood alone in the dank hallway, stunned. Think about something that Gemma had always wanted from her? Gemma had never asked for anything. What could Vala possibly do for Gemma that she hadn't already tried?

And then it hit. Gemma had asked for something, years ago. Vala had simply laughed at her.

Wow, she had been a bad sister.

A few weeks later, Gemma stepped out of her chambers to find two dresses – a white one and a black one. They were identical in the style and cut.

One was clearly for her and the other was clearly Vala's size.

There was a note attached, which read:

You are cordially invited to tea at Vala Mal Doran's chambers. Formal Dress Required. Please, no guests.

Despite all the fear that came rushing back when Vala had set her and Ska'ara up, Gemma felt tears come to her eyes.

For her fourth birthday, she had asked Vala to set her up a tea party with her friends. Vala had complied at the time, but when the time came to actually have it, Gemma arrived to find livestock turds instead of pastries and swamp gunk instead of tea. None of her friends were there.

Vala had taken the time to plan another one, thirty years later, with just the two of them.


	15. Girl Talk

A/N: Okay, so I lied. I'm not done with the story yet, but I love putting stuff up – it makes me feel accomplished.

Vala skipped down the hallway gleefully, wishing she had her rollerblades.

She had just taken another shot at receiving, and had gotten lucky.

Very lucky, in fact.

It had been her third attempt at receiving, and finally an attractive man had died and had taken her up on her own form of medicine.

She felt much better, except for the fact that she had cut her meeting with Gemma close. She still needed to put the dress on and decorate her chambers.

Luckily (Or maybe not so lucky, depending on how you look at it), Janet had agreed to help Vala get ready. Vala was grateful – it would be difficult to put the dress on herself since she was still unable to touch anything and she lacked a certain ability for house chores. Janet would be able to help her dress and prepare their "tea party".

Of course, Vala had told Janet she would be there twenty minutes before she actually arrived.

And Janet, ever the punctual one, was not happy.

"You were supposed to be here twenty minutes ago," Janet scolded as Vala almost leapt into the room.

"I know, and I'm sorry," Vala sang, knowing she was not sorry. "What do we have to do to get this thing going?"

"Gemma will be here in forty minutes, so we need to set the table, get you dressed, and make sure you know your table manners. Where have you been?"

"Okay, table setting time. Do we have plates?" They appeared stacked on a boulder Vala had rolled in the previous day to act as a table, along with forks and stone tea cups that Vala would be able to grab onto.

"I asked you a question, Vala," Janet said sternly as Vala arranged the new items on the boulder. "Where have you been when you should have – oh wait. Never mind. I can smell it on you anyway. Who was it?"

Vala dropped the tea cup she had been about to place.

"You can smell?"

"Once you've been here awhile, your humanly senses start to come back. But anyway, who did you have sex with?"

"His name was Jason. He just came up…"

"Well then. You should be pleasant for a while."

Vala stared at her incredulously.

"You don't care? No lecture?"

"What's the point? I can't do anything to you. Are we getting ready for this meeting with your sister or not?"

"Wait…"

"What now?"

"You've only been here two years. Gemma has been here for fourteen. She will be able to smell this."

Janet looked slightly amused.

"Well, I there's nothing I can do."

"Please, Janet?"

"It was your idea to get down and dirty before this meeting, not mine. Hopefully, when I put the dress on you, that will be enough." Janet shrugged. "She did die a virgin, maybe she doesn't know the smell.

But Vala knew this was not the case. Vala had been lectured with Gemma in the room a few too many times.

Half an hour later, she was still worrying about it and Janet was ready to kill her.

"Vala, I am buttoning up your dress. Don't make me pull the buttons off and let you go like that."

"You wouldn't."

"I will, if you don't shut up and stop worrying."

There was silence as Janet finished with the buttons.

"There, now let me run a brush through your hair and you should be ready. Gemma will be here soon."

"Janet?"

"Yes?"

"How do I apologize to her?"

Janet stopped brushing mid-stroke.

"Besides the 'I'm sorry' part?"

"I'm sorry that she got upset. But I honestly believe that she will never be happy without realizing that people are not always out to get her. Ska'ara could help her learn that lesson.

Janet stopped brushing Vala's hair and sat down in front of her.

"I know," Janet said gently. "But you have to realize what growing up for her was like."

"How could I not know? I was there."

"Physically, yes. But not always mentally. Vala, her - your - parents were always paying attention to you because you drove them crazy. Gemma would either have to be even badder or a perfect saint. She took the perfect saint route. It became her life goal not to end up like you. But in death…well, some things need a push to change. With you here, she may change. Understand her side of the story and things will go smoother for you."

Janet stood up.

"I need to go. She can't find me here. Good luck."

"Janet?" Janet stopped at the door.

"Be at your place in case something goes wrong?"

Janet smiled.

"Of course." And with that, she left.

Vala stood up, getting used to the strange fabric.

Vala could not remember the last time she had worn a dress. Quetesh had had a certain love for them and now that she was gone, Vala tried to stay away from them as much as possible.

Ironic how a simple womanly garment reminded her of massive carnage.

But still, she was wearing it for Gemma.

And when Vala heard the gentle knock on the stone outside her chambers, she prayed to whatever deities watching that this meeting was a good one.


End file.
